As the sun hangs lower in the sky each day City Star head brewer John Way tracks how far it shines inside through the taproom’s new huge south facing windows. Solar noon is celebrated daily and well known by all those who work in the brew house mid-day with John. Fascinated by the Winter Solstice John Way originally crafted Widow Maker, his darkest beer of the year, with the darkest day of the year in mind. The sun won’t be shining tomorrow during the Winter Solstice (yay snow!) but Widow Maker will be as it flows from the taps. At 2pm Widow Maker Imperial Stout will be released on draft and in 22oz bottles, side by side with French Roast Widow Maker and Vanilla Bean Widow Maker. Bottles will be for sale at $12-15/bottle with a 1 case limit per person of each beer. 10oz pours, tasters, and flights of all three imperial stouts will be available to enjoy in the taproom.
More about the beers…
Widow Maker is a colossal Imperial Stout. This nod to the Winter Solstice boasts a big, bold and complex flavor profile of dark roasted malt, chocolate and dark fruit. Smooth, rich and ready to sip and savor.
The French Roast variant of Widow Maker Imperial Stout is infused with Denver based Dazbog’s French Roast coffee. Two pounds of coarse ground coffee per barrel are added to the conditioned beer for a robust 24 hour cold brew. Bold coffee mingles with the imperial stout’s dark roasted malt, chocolate and dark fruit flavors. Not for the faint hearted. Caffeine included.
The Vanilla Bean variant of Widow Maker Imperial Stout is infused with organic Bourbon vanilla beans from Madagascar. The conditioned beer is dosed with a tincture made in house of the scraped vanilla pods and tiny seeds. Sweet, dark roasted malt, chocolate and dark fruit notes showcase the delicate vanilla flavor and aroma.
To date City Star Brewing has only bottled barrel aged beers. The bottle release of Widow Maker is the brewery’s first non-barrel aged beer to be packaged. As supply is very limited bottles of Widow Maker and variants will only be sold out of the downtown Berthoud taproom. More specialty bottle releases can be expected in 2018.
Cheers to darker beers and longer days!